By Joseph A. Kechichian, Gulf news Senior Writer

Beirut: “There are no channels of communication or any exchange of
words or greetings,” declared former commander of the Internal Security
Forces (ISF) Ashraf Rifi to the MTV television network as he confirmed
that ties with Future Movement leader, the former Prime Minister Sa‘ad
Hariri, had been “totally severed”.

“Hariri is finished,” said
Rifi in what was an unprecedented political bombshell, adding that
Lebanese Sunnis were “awaiting for a new Hariri”. These sharp
words from Rifi, who joined the March 14 coalition after he retired from
the powerful ISF and even accepted one of the most critical government
portfolios in the Tammam Salam Cabinet, shook the political
establishment.

Although accustomed to polarisation, the winner of
the early June 2016 Tripoli municipality elections — when he formed an
alternative list that defeated Lebanon’s three Sunni billionaires
(Hariri, Mohammad Safadi and Najib Mikati) — helped dejected Sunnis open
a new page in politics, and permitted him to claim that Hariri had lost
his influence in the community.

by Asharq Al-Awsat – Beirut-A seminar organized by Lebanon’s Maronite League is expected
to adopt several recommendations that encourage the return of Syrian
refugees to their country. The officials who participated in the seminar, which concluded on
Friday, are now working on issuing the recommendations early next week.
They include the importance of “finding practical solutions to the
refugee crisis and its repercussions, and coming up with decisions that
can be implemented.”

Among the participants were United Nations Special Coordinator for
Lebanon Sigrid Kaag, representatives of U.N. agencies, international law
experts and organizations that work on Syrian refugee affairs. During the seminar, there were converging viewpoints on the right of
the displaced Syrians to return home, particularly after the creation of
safe zones in Syria.

The head of the Maronite League, Antoine Klimos, told Asharq Al-Awsat
newspaper that the Lebanese “can no longer stand still as the refugee
crisis unfolds.”

They are the Debutante Girls: daughters of the wealthy, connected
families of Lebanese high society, college-educated women making an
entrance in a lavish evening event. “It’s a way to present yourself to society,” photographer Natalie
Naccache tells TIME. “But it’s also a way to be a princess for a night.”

Known as the Paris of the Middle East, Lebanon was the epicenter of
nightlife in the mid-1900s. And then the war hit, followed by an influx
of Syrian refugees and sectarian tension. Despite the tense political
climate, Naccache says it’s a culture that persists. “This ball is their
way of carrying on, no matter what is going on in their country,” she
says. “This was them retaining their little Paris of the Middle East.”

by Michael Karam

Where in Copenhagen can you park like that?” The fearsome
hi-viz-clad female traffic warden barked at my friend who was picking me
up from the airport in the Danish capital. The normal, well-oiled
machine that is Danish traffic had been thrown a curve ball by the
unannounced building works at the airport entrance and my friend, while
technically infringing the traffic law, had only pulled over momentarily
to get her bearings.

But
apparently that’s enough to incur the wrath of authority in this neck
of the woods. A card outlining how the temporary traffic flow worked was
thrust through the passenger window and we were sent on our way with a
warning.

I tried my best to mollify the situation by explaining to
my friend that the incident should be seen as an example of why Danish
society is so envied. “Take Lebanon for example,” I said cheerily. “The
government is only now trying to implement a plan to introduce proper
pavements and a public transport system. Imagine.”

• Kif Leswing

Earlier this week, Apple announced a new type of
wireless headphones at a media event in San Francisco. It
called them “AirPods.”

That name would have sounded familiar if you read Apple trademark
applications. In fact, it was hiding in plain sight since at
least early 2015, when an Apple-aligned holding company
first registered the trademark.

However, “AirPods” was registered under a dummy corporation
called “Entertainment in Flight.” 

In the run-up to Apple’s big reveal, Rennick Solicitors trademark lawyer Brian Conroy
definitively linked Entertainment in Flight to Apple — and
discovered a few other names Apple wanted to make sure
it could name future products after, like Beats’
EP headphones, which were announced shortly after the
event. 

GENEVA (AP) — The United States and Russia early Saturday
announced a breakthrough agreement on Syria that foresees a
nationwide cease-fire starting next Monday, followed a week later
by an unlikely new military partnership between the rival
governments targeting the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said shortly after midnight
that the plan could reduce violence in Syria and lead to a
long-sought political transition, ending more than five years of
bloodshed. He called the deal a potential “turning point” in a conflict that
has killed as many as 500,000 people, if complied with by Syria’s
Russian-backed government and U.S.-supported rebel groups.

The cease-fire begins at sundown Sept. 12, Kerry said, coinciding
with the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Kerry’s negotiating partner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov, confirmed the agreement and said it could help expand the
counterterrorism fight and aid deliveries to Syrian civilians. He
said Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was prepared to
comply.

“This is just the beginning of our new relations,” Lavrov said.

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: A Lebanese lawmaker has caused an uproar among activists following a statement in which he suggested that women are sometimes to blame for their own rape. “In some cases, we need to ask if women play an active role in pushing men to rape them,” Kataeb MP Elie Marouni said during a conference organized Wednesday by the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering (LDWG) at the Zouk Mikael Municipality.

The conference centered on the abolition of the Lebanese Penal Code’s Article 522, which allows rapists to avoid prosecution if they marry the victim.

Responding to the remark, journalist and co-founder of women’s rights group FE-MALE, Hayat Mirshad, accused Marouni of offending every woman in the room.

“As a female Lebanese citizen, I am ashamed that people like you represent me in Parliament,” Mirshad told Marouni at the conference.

When asked later about Mirshad’s intervention, Marouni told LBCI that he “didn’t know what that woman’s name was” and that “the way she voiced her objection was inappropriate.”

“If only she had waited until the end of the conference, she’d have seen many women asking to take pictures with me,” he added.

by Donna Abu-Nasr  Lebanon’s economy remains resilient despite the political instability
that has prevented the election of a president for more than two years,
according to central bank Governor Riad Salameh.

“We’re doing
fine,” Salameh said in a telephone interview on Thursday, adding that
measures taken this year to boost liquidity have put the economy in
position to withstand challenges that include regional conflict and a
barely functioning government. Foreign reserves are at a record high
over $40 billion, the currency is stable and liquidity is adequate, he
said. Growth will range between 1.5 to 2 percent this year, maintaining
the 2015 pace.

Beset by sectarian crises and regional proxy conflicts, Lebanon has been
without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman’s term expired
in May 2014, as lawmakers haggle over a successor. Meanwhile, more than a
million refugees have poured into the nation — with a population of
4.5 million — to escape the Syrian conflict, which has blocked
Lebanon’s only overland trade route and kept Gulf Arab.

By Rebecca McLaughlin-Duane

Lebanese street artist Yazan Halwani was surprised to
receive a call from luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer six months ago, asking
him to become a brand ambassador.

“I don’t normally wear watches
but I’ve started now, of course,” the 23-year-old says. “Naturally, I
was very familiar with the brand and I’m glad that our collaboration has
been an open one – bridging two worlds if you like – creating something
relevant to both parties.”

Tag
Heuer commissioned Halwani to design a digital face for its Connected
watch, which allows the wearer to upload a variety of designs via its
touchscreen, in addition to thousands of lifestyle applications. Due
to be launched Wednesday night, just in time for Eid Al Adha, the
Arabic watch-face design will be available – via a dedicated Tag app –
to customers who buy a Connected timepiece, the prices of which range
from Dh5,550 to Dh37,000.

The
unveiling will take place on Wednesday during a private VIP reception
in Dubai, at the French restaurant Le Cantine du Faubourg, with Halwani
in attendance.